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Updating an old aquarium, Juwel Rekord 72, and other ramblings
- Thread starter dcurzon
- Start date
Ok so I decided today I would add a back to brace the cabinet.
My red Tiger lotus from the other tank was floating about, it had lost all its roots, so I've just wedged it gently into a gap in the wood in this tank. If it grows some roots back then I can see a gap where I can stick it in the substrate.
I've ordered some lily pipes, some 12/16 pipe, and I have 2 eheim ecco's and an Eheim classic 250 to pick from. I put a larger eheim 350 classic on the other tank, I bought for £2 on eBay and after a good cleanup, there are no leaks.
Both the ecco's work ok, the classic 250 needs a new seal but has been fitted with new impellor etc so maybe I'll keep that one as a spare and the smaller Ecco under this tank.
None are silent though 🙁
I'd actually really like to get a silent one with heating.
Anyway, back to the reason for this post... All lateral movement is now gone, and a 60% water change at the same time 👍
My red Tiger lotus from the other tank was floating about, it had lost all its roots, so I've just wedged it gently into a gap in the wood in this tank. If it grows some roots back then I can see a gap where I can stick it in the substrate.
I've ordered some lily pipes, some 12/16 pipe, and I have 2 eheim ecco's and an Eheim classic 250 to pick from. I put a larger eheim 350 classic on the other tank, I bought for £2 on eBay and after a good cleanup, there are no leaks.
Both the ecco's work ok, the classic 250 needs a new seal but has been fitted with new impellor etc so maybe I'll keep that one as a spare and the smaller Ecco under this tank.
None are silent though 🙁
I'd actually really like to get a silent one with heating.
Anyway, back to the reason for this post... All lateral movement is now gone, and a 60% water change at the same time 👍
Tiger lotus has already gained a root. I'll leave it where it is and see if it gets some more.
The DIY co2... Is it normal to need to clean the diffuser every 3 days or so? I put a cigarette filter inline (where pipe enters the bottle) but that still didn't help. Just seems to gum up way to frequently.
So I've moved the sodastream system from the 125 onto this one now.
No sign of any baby shrimps yet. I'm starting to wonder if I just imagined some sign of eggs. 2 weeks since I thought I saw 2 berried females.
The DIY co2... Is it normal to need to clean the diffuser every 3 days or so? I put a cigarette filter inline (where pipe enters the bottle) but that still didn't help. Just seems to gum up way to frequently.
So I've moved the sodastream system from the 125 onto this one now.
No sign of any baby shrimps yet. I'm starting to wonder if I just imagined some sign of eggs. 2 weeks since I thought I saw 2 berried females.
Lily pipes and hose arrived, so I've fitted the smaller Ecco and it does seem fairly silent, so suspect possibly dirty old pipes were contributing to noise?
Anyhow, new pipes are very soft and pliable, possibly too much, so will have to look out for links.
I've got no seals in the double tap connectors so used some vaseline to keep leaks at bay temporarily, another forum member has kindly offered to post me some spares 👍
So running the Ecco alongside the U2 for a while. Have run out of plug sockets, will have to locate a double adaptor from around the house somewhere until I can remove the U2.
Another small question... The lily pipes inlet/outlet have one sucker on each, so they tend to twist a bit. Do I need to attach at the top with those acrylic pipe holders? Or is there a secret way?
Anyhow, new pipes are very soft and pliable, possibly too much, so will have to look out for links.
I've got no seals in the double tap connectors so used some vaseline to keep leaks at bay temporarily, another forum member has kindly offered to post me some spares 👍
So running the Ecco alongside the U2 for a while. Have run out of plug sockets, will have to locate a double adaptor from around the house somewhere until I can remove the U2.
Another small question... The lily pipes inlet/outlet have one sucker on each, so they tend to twist a bit. Do I need to attach at the top with those acrylic pipe holders? Or is there a secret way?
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Gave some of the plants a trim, tbh I made a bit of a pig's ear of it and I'm not happy, but ok, it'll grow (perhaps).
The red lotus has a root so I've shoved it into the dirt, I'm sure there's a root tab fairly near it.
I removed the black electrical tape. Some honeycomb vinyl was found, haphazardly cut and fitted, almost fluval-like to help hide water staining. It's not a perfect cut but close enough that my OCD almost doesn't notice it (it does but it see's everything). It clearly came from the vinyl company not quite cut straight, and if I had a sharper blade and a straighter edge, I'd cut it so all the honeycombs were aligned properly.
I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.
Some new o rings fitted to my double taps, thanks to a ukaps forum member 👍
And still no baby shrimps. I do now think i just imagined it, probably through hopeful eyes.
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9
91
Guest
With yeast yes. Use a second bottle of water to bubble through and filter the gas.
Have you considered the other DIY option. The presurissed one with citric acid and bicarbonate of soda?
rebel
Member
- Joined
- 4 Aug 2015
- Messages
- 2,256
Yes! It's a pain.
Wolf6
Member
Wise choice 🙂 must also give you more peace of mind knowing it wont just when some visitor accidentally leans against the tank a bit 😉
Yes I've considered it, from a home experimenting point of view both methods are interesting!
I've moved my sodastream system down to that tank now. The regulator really wasn't much more than the "DIY co2 kits" anyway.
Maybe I'll revisit the DIY route sometime though 🙂
So I have 4 types of "small things" that have suddenly appeared, once I'd put my reading glasses on.
1. Baby shrimps. I moved the moss balls, and then I spotted the teeny things! Not many though.
2. Baby snails. I dont know where these have come from or what type they are. I didn't ask for them though. Plants have been from either Tropica, or the LFS "random tank of not very well labelled plants". Not sure what I can do about them 😕
Quick Google and I think Malaysian trumpets
3. Tiny grey-ish dots, so small they are literally like the tip of a pin. They seem to move in fairly jerky motions and partially bury into the substrate. Again I don't know what they are. I guess potentially they could be smaller shrimplets? But there's no shape to them, they are like a dot.
4. Hard looking things attached to the glass and leaves of the Val, like a large greyish white dots that floats off if knocked. Maybe a couple of mm's.
I'm kind of thinking possibly snail eggs or something? These have literally suddenly appeared, they weren't there yesterday. Scattered all over the place.
I think I'm going to have a snail infestation :/
Can I do anything in these early stages??
1. Baby shrimps. I moved the moss balls, and then I spotted the teeny things! Not many though.
2. Baby snails. I dont know where these have come from or what type they are. I didn't ask for them though. Plants have been from either Tropica, or the LFS "random tank of not very well labelled plants". Not sure what I can do about them 😕
Quick Google and I think Malaysian trumpets
3. Tiny grey-ish dots, so small they are literally like the tip of a pin. They seem to move in fairly jerky motions and partially bury into the substrate. Again I don't know what they are. I guess potentially they could be smaller shrimplets? But there's no shape to them, they are like a dot.
4. Hard looking things attached to the glass and leaves of the Val, like a large greyish white dots that floats off if knocked. Maybe a couple of mm's.
I'm kind of thinking possibly snail eggs or something? These have literally suddenly appeared, they weren't there yesterday. Scattered all over the place.
I think I'm going to have a snail infestation :/
Can I do anything in these early stages??
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So those whitish dots on the leaves I think are more snails. Ah well a few snails won't hurt I guess.
^just playing with angles. You may also spot that I removed the U2, as I figured I can fits it's media into one of the trays on the Ecco.
Found a stick on towel rail in Poundland, for just 50p... I feel like I have robbed them! Anyway, a quick cut down of the rail and it fits there nicely.
Have stopped feeding the shrimp, as they've started to get lazy on the algae.
^just playing with angles. You may also spot that I removed the U2, as I figured I can fits it's media into one of the trays on the Ecco.
Found a stick on towel rail in Poundland, for just 50p... I feel like I have robbed them! Anyway, a quick cut down of the rail and it fits there nicely.
Have stopped feeding the shrimp, as they've started to get lazy on the algae.
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Hi all,
I wouldn't worry about any of them.
cheers Darrel
They are a crustacean, if they move like ..... . ..... .... ..... then they are a copepod like Cyclops. The other option are Ostracods, but they tend to move in loops.
They may be river limpets (Acroloxus lacustris).
I wouldn't worry about any of them.
cheers Darrel
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@dw1305 thanks Darrel, I'll try and pretend I can't see them 🙂
I'm looking to get some red plants to fill in around the base of the wood. I'll move the Egeria right into the corner where the diffuser is (inline diffuser should be on its way) and confine it to the corner, leaving me with some space at the base as circled
Either some.ludwigia repens Ruben and/or AR ?
Any other suggestions for that gap?
And possibly some more carpeting something. Is it ok to mix carpet plants?
I'm looking to get some red plants to fill in around the base of the wood. I'll move the Egeria right into the corner where the diffuser is (inline diffuser should be on its way) and confine it to the corner, leaving me with some space at the base as circled
Either some.ludwigia repens Ruben and/or AR ?
Any other suggestions for that gap?
And possibly some more carpeting something. Is it ok to mix carpet plants?
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Greenscapes
Seedling
Maybe some saggitaria, or anubias in between the rocks. It is absolutely fine to mix carpeting plants as long as they are compatible and are suited for the conditions of your aquarium.
Dr Mike Oxgreen
Member
Yay! Babies!
It‘s a great feeling getting your first shrimplets, isn’t it?
You‘ll be astonished how fast they grow. Give it two weeks and you’ll be struggling to differentiate between the “babies” and the adults. They also become a lot more visible as they grow - they hide less, as if they’re programmed to know that they’re potential food when they’re tiny, but they seem to know that they’re less vulnerable as they get bigger and they start exploring the tank a lot more.
The tank is looking great - well done!
By the way that’s a great picture. They’re bloody hard to photograph - what equipment did you use? Your focus is spot on, and with a lovely narrow depth of field to eliminate the distracting background.
It‘s a great feeling getting your first shrimplets, isn’t it?
You‘ll be astonished how fast they grow. Give it two weeks and you’ll be struggling to differentiate between the “babies” and the adults. They also become a lot more visible as they grow - they hide less, as if they’re programmed to know that they’re potential food when they’re tiny, but they seem to know that they’re less vulnerable as they get bigger and they start exploring the tank a lot more.
The tank is looking great - well done!
By the way that’s a great picture. They’re bloody hard to photograph - what equipment did you use? Your focus is spot on, and with a lovely narrow depth of field to eliminate the distracting background.
That's actually from my phone! It just happened to be about the right distance from the glass for the phone to focus, and I didn't think I'd have time to go get the Panasonic before he disappeared againYay! Babies!
The tank is looking great - well done!
By the way that’s a great picture. They’re bloody hard to photograph - what equipment did you use? Your focus is spot on, and with a lovely narrow depth of field to eliminate the distracting background.
The first batch, I only saw maybe 4 or 5 and I thought they'd all become snacks, then I spotted this one sat on the Egeria quite nicely 🙂
theres another female with a big clutch of eggs under her so the numbers game suggests that whilst some will no doubt get eaten, some will also survive and build up the numbers
been away a few days, so it'll be interesting when I get back to see if there's been any changes 🙂
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Gave them a good scrub I did, a gentle rub with a damp scouring pad.
And grow they did after that!
Also, some hygrophilia polysperma that hasn't been doing anything, also seems to have had a burst
Val is now hitting the top, flowing along the back, and curling across the side...
I might see if I can get it to loop all the way around :O
A few minor bits of algae have been forming here and there, I just try and pluck it out when I can. The shrimp aren't keeping on top of it.
Couple of bits picked up in the for sale section, so Co2 is now inline with an up atomiser. I noticed a slight co2 leak from it so attacked it with gorilla glue and that seems to have it sorted
Also some saggitaria subulata to help fill in some gaps should arrive sometime next week too 🙂
Still looking for some red stuff to pad out some areas.
Cheap 50p towel rail fell off. Now I am the one feeling robbed. Thanks, Poundland. Glad I didn't get 2😡 anyway it's just the sticky stuff they use is crap. (They did also supply screws)
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The dwarf Sag arrived from Hoggie, so I have separated individual plants from each other (runners) trimmed roots and filled some gaps 🙂. not sure how long that takes to get going?
I still have at least half of it left though. I've got it floating in the other tank, might consider planting it in that one. Or something, I don't know.
Moved one of the crypts into the middle of the DHG just to create a bit of even spacing and contrast. Im not really the artistic type though, so will have to see how it looks.
A couple of the Val's had just started to throw out some runners on Thursday. Today I snipped them out. Very odd, they both went in the exact same direction, parallel to each other, straight into the middle of the DHG. So about 6 inches of runner each, and the baby plants had grown a couple of inches. from 2 different plants. I may have to consider removing the val entirely at some point. Those baby plants have been dunked into the sand of the other tank, along with a couple of ceramic rings with some stem cuttings shoved in, all destined to end up in mum's tank at some point. Speaking of which, she has terrible algae problems, horrible black gunky stuff. I've managed to train her to feed less, but natural light I think is the main issue, and also not a huge amount of plants to compete, hence i'm trying to gather my offcuts. I think I can improve the natural light issue with some cardboard, so next visit will be a deep clean, throw in whatever offcuts I have accumulated and a light block exercise. Did I mention how bloody difficult that tank is to maintain??
Still looking for something red. Will probably have to wait until after pay day now. I may have to lose some more Egeria on a maintenance perspective :O
Alo, I'm probably going to have to invest in some Aquascaping scissors/tweezers. Trying to get my hand in and a finger prodding the Sag down was a bit of a pain... Cheapo sets from Amazon any good at all?
I still have at least half of it left though. I've got it floating in the other tank, might consider planting it in that one. Or something, I don't know.
Moved one of the crypts into the middle of the DHG just to create a bit of even spacing and contrast. Im not really the artistic type though, so will have to see how it looks.
A couple of the Val's had just started to throw out some runners on Thursday. Today I snipped them out. Very odd, they both went in the exact same direction, parallel to each other, straight into the middle of the DHG. So about 6 inches of runner each, and the baby plants had grown a couple of inches. from 2 different plants. I may have to consider removing the val entirely at some point. Those baby plants have been dunked into the sand of the other tank, along with a couple of ceramic rings with some stem cuttings shoved in, all destined to end up in mum's tank at some point. Speaking of which, she has terrible algae problems, horrible black gunky stuff. I've managed to train her to feed less, but natural light I think is the main issue, and also not a huge amount of plants to compete, hence i'm trying to gather my offcuts. I think I can improve the natural light issue with some cardboard, so next visit will be a deep clean, throw in whatever offcuts I have accumulated and a light block exercise. Did I mention how bloody difficult that tank is to maintain??
Still looking for something red. Will probably have to wait until after pay day now. I may have to lose some more Egeria on a maintenance perspective :O
Alo, I'm probably going to have to invest in some Aquascaping scissors/tweezers. Trying to get my hand in and a finger prodding the Sag down was a bit of a pain... Cheapo sets from Amazon any good at all?
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